Island in the Sea of Time
}} The Event Nantucket Ian Arnstein a Classics professor fron San Diego, arrives on Nantucket Island on March 17, 1998; it is not his first trip. He goes to the John Cofflin House, where he normally stays, looking forward to a seafood dinner. (Synchronicity: Pamela Arnstein, a San Diego Zoo veterinarian is one of those emerging from the ashes of the Emberverse.) Doreen Rosenthal, an astronomy intern who is also a visitor, although she spends more time on Nantucket, watches the feed from automated cameras on her computer screen. She begins to realize something is happening in the sky. Jared Cofflin is contemplating the fact that there is little for a Nantucket police chief to do when there are few visitors or "coofs" around. When the lights flicker, he is concerned about another power outage. He is amazed at what he sees in the sky. Screams from people around him bring him out of his trance. Chief Cofflin takes control; he orders his off-duty officers back to work and tells George Swain to call four other men and tell each of them to bring six trustworthy friends who can be deputized. Cofflin quiets the crowd. He tells everyone that television, radio and telephone service to the mainland is out. As he is explaining his plan for the next day, the dome of light disappears and the night sky becomes visible again. The police chief tells everyone to go home because it is 2:30 a.m. As the crowd breaks up, Cofflin points out to George that the moon is in the wrong phase and the stars are in the wrong positions, including a missing north star. At her computer Doreen also realizes that the star field has changed and starts a program to match the current night sky with any calculated configuration. She can't believe the result and goes back to reconfirm, wondering whom she should tell if she is correct. The USCGC Eagle Captain Marian Alston is on the quarterdack of US Coast Guard ship Eagle as she watches her crew of cadets striking sail in anticipation of an approaching northeaster. She appreciates that what she and her vessel are currently doing is "real sailing." Nantucket Island is northeast of the vessel and relatively close by. Lieutenant William Walker is taking a navigational sight on Arcturus from the edge of the quarterdeck, and Victor Ortiz is teaching the same skill to a student. Alston is relieved to be at sea, where she, as captain, is her own master. Thomas Hiller, the sailing master, calls her attention to the magnetic compass, which is spinning in complete circles. She is uneasy and orders her crew out of the rigging. Sparks begin to fly in the air around the ship and the vessel is encased in a dome of light whose base is miles wide. The ship is suddenly becalmed and Alston orders all sails taken in. As some members of the crew seem to be on the verge of panic, she orders Lt.Cdr. Roysins, her XO, to regain some order. She orders the engines started. The Morning After When the dome of light disappears, Captain Alston finds that she can not make contact on any of her usual radio frequencies and that her global positioning system devices can not locate any satellites. The Eagle finally intercepts a radiophone call from Nantucket Island; the sailor who takes the call reports that the caller is babbling. Doreen decides to take her information to the chief of police, whose response is testy at the start. Doreen confirms to Cofflin that the night sky is incorrect for the spring of 1998, and tells him the computer results. Chief Cofflin decides to attempt a flight to the mainland to test Doreen's theory and asks Andy Toffler, the owner of the only seaplane, to transport him. Human traffic is backing up at the island airport waiting for airplanes Cofflin suspects will never arrive. He calls the Eagle and tells Alston about Doreen's theory and the captain responds that her observations are consistent with Doreen's. When Cofflin says he is going to make a floatplane reconnaissance of the mainland, Alston asks him to take a Coastguardsman on the trip. Toffler lands in the water near the Eagle and William Walker climbs aboard. After take off, they see a mass of dead cod. They also notice a curved mark in the water, of different shades of blue on either side and patches of dead fish. After they fly the trace for a while, the Eagle is able to determine from their positions that the curve is a narrow ellipse more than twenty-three miles long and that during the storm Eagle was barely inside its circumference. Alston adds that the fish were probably electrocuted during the Event. As the floatplane continues on its mission, the occupants see right whales, virtually extinct in the Nantucket area since the eighteenth century. Contact and despair Andy Toffler flies his floatplane along the Cape Cod shore to what should be Boston, Massachusetts, but all they find is tall trees and a native village with the inhabitants pointing at them as they fly. By the time they land the village is deserted. Toffler, Jared Cofflin, William Walker, and Doreen Rosenthal walk ashore. They come under spear attack and respond by shooting over the natives' heads. The natives, not understanding fire arms, continue to attack. A spear penetrates Toffler's leg, but the others are able to remove it. As the natives continue to advance, Walker reluctantly fires at one, hitting him in the leg; the rest flee except for one. Walker shoots him as well. They examine the natives' wounds and determine that one is fatally wounded. They treat the wound of the other and put him into the floatplane to return to Nantucket. After learning about the experience of the people on the floatplane, Roysins excuses himself. A short time later, a coastguardsman notifies Marian Alston of a problem with Roysins. Going below, she finds his cabin door locked. When he does not respond to her order to open the door, she orders CPO Baker to break into the cabin. They find Roysins dead from an overdose of pills. Alston regrets his reaction and orders the body prepared for burial at sea. On Nantucket, four people have already commited suicide and a dozen have made an attempt. Meetings Jared Cofflin finds himself moderating the town meeting after Joseph Starbuck, the Town Clerk, tells him that none of the elected members of the Board of Selectmen are able to function. He tells the assembly that the island has unaccountably travelled back in time to March 1250 BC. After he regains order, he introduces Doreen Rosenthal and Marian Alston, who who verify his statements. They show pictures of what should have been Boston, including a native with a spear. Ian Arnstein tells everyone the real implications of the Event. There is no America. There are no sources of oil or food and no factories. When existing supplies are exhausted the inhabitants of Nantucket and the coastguardsmen will die unless they arrange to start growing food and rationing, now. After some caustic comments from Pamela Lisketter about having shot at the natives, Arnstein says they should be able to trade for hides and game, but not for corn because it is not yet grown this far north. Martha Stoddard points out that Europe is in the Bronze Age and they should be able to acquire grain there and that they have a ship, the Eagle. Alston says she will help, but also agrees with Arnstein that they need some organization. After some spirited discussion, Cofflin is elected as Chief Executive Officer for the duration of the emergency. After a motion is passed that Cofflin appoint a Council, Cofflin takes his revenge by appointing Starbuck, Alston, Arnstein, Rosenthal, Lisketter, Angelica Brand, and all the available selectmen. After the meeting, Dr. Coleman reports that the native who had been shot is dying from an intense case of the common cold: he theorises that the native had never been exposed to a cold virus before. Alston returns to the Eagle and briefs her crew. A commotion arises that lasts for hours and results in some crew members and cadets being sedated or restrained. Everyone looks shocked except for Walker, who looks eager. There is something Alston does not like about Lt. William Walker, but nothing she can pin down. Alston is able to tell her officers that no one has taken up the offer to leave the Eagle and live on Nantucket. Alston remembers that there is something she does not like about William Walker. Sandy Rapczewicz expresses her concern that their actions are changing the future and Alston tells the officers that in one way they already have changed it simply by arriving. In 'their' future there were no bricks or concrete found on Nantucket, and they have gone ashore and spread the common cold to the native they did not bring back, who almost certainly has transmitted it to other natives. Arnstein thinks the past and future Nantucket have changed places, and that a new future will develop. (Synchronicity: The Nantucket 'Event' is the direct cause of the 'Change' described in the Emberverse series. The Nantucket that arrives in the Emberverse is not quite the one from 1250BC, though.) Emergency Measures The Council quickly determine that there is only three weeks' worth of food on the Island. Electricity is rationed, as is fuel. There are two trawlers which can fish until their fuel runs out, and they make plans for converting some of the sailing yachts, using wood from empty housing. They consider whaling for meat and oil; there are so many whales, Alston reports, they are a navigation hazard. Dr Coleman and Martha Stoddard both come up with ideas for gathering wild plants and seaweed. Angela Brand's winter cover is rye, which she can harvest instead of ploughing in. Ian Arnstein suggests potatoes to see them over the winter, and ways to fertilise the soil. Angela has seed potatoes and maize she can plant, and small herds of sheep and cows. They need the population working in teams, planting, fishing and harvesting, and Starbuck suggests a system of payment using vouchers for work done. The local engineer, Ron Leaton, can produce tools, even steam engines and lathes. Pamela Lisketter has a network of crafters and hobbyists; weavers, potters, a glassblower, and a blacksmith and swordsmith. For preservation they need salt. Arnstein suggests Inagua in the Bahamas, which has salt lagoons, and they agree to send Yare, one of two trapped topmast schooners. They start preparing a wish-list for Alston to take with her and bring back on her wheat-collecting trip to Europe. Arnstein is to go with her because he 'knows ancient languages' - Classical Latin and Greek, which will not be spoken for hundreds of years. He points out that Lithuanian would be a better choice, as it is a very old language that has changed little. But they are unlikely to find a Lithuanian. Then Doreen points out her mother was from Vilnus, and she speaks it... (Ch.2) We follow various citizens adjusting - or not - to learning new skills: Clearing fields using slash-and-burn, line fishing for cod. William Walker catches a whale with a newly-made explosive harpoon. Ian Arnstein inspects weapons made by Leaton's Seahaven factory; knives, spears, crossbows, Roman-style swords. Jared Cofflin inspects as windmills are set up to charge automobile batteries. Eagle sets sail with her cargo of steel tools and weapons, plastic beads and trinkets. England / The White Isle Iraiina, the Sun People Daurthunnicar, Chief of the Iraiina, thanks the trader Isketerol of Tartessos for his help in getting the Iraiina tribe across the English Channel, the Narrow Sea. The Iraiina have already begun raiding the local tribes for food, valuables and slaves, and Daurthunnicar looks forward to futher riches. The Eagle is approaching up channel on course for the natural deep water where Southampton would be, when a lookout spots a small boat drifting. It is a small armed party of Iraiina, most of whom have died from exposure and dehydration. One is alive. He is brought aboard and examined, and the crew unload the possessions from the boat. While the man is recovering, Alston holds the summary court-martial of a seaman, Rodriguez, who has assaulted and tried to rape a female crew member, Alston finds him guilty, and rather than maroon him ashore, has him strapped into a life jacket and towed behind the ship. Ian and Doreen start to communicate with Ohotolarix, the man who was picked up and who patently does not speak Lithuanian. They show him pictures and drawings to establish a wordbase, and Ian thinks Ohotolarix speaks early Indo-European. Ian passes what they have discovered to the Captain. Swindapa of the Kurlelo line leads a defensive party against the invaders. Her warriors initially have the upper hand, but more Iraiina arrive, and they are trapped. Swindapa is raped then taken captive by Shaumsrix as she is well dressed and might raise a ransom price. Shaumsrix bemoans the price of victory to his men: four Iraiina dead and eight wounded, but he cannot get his point across to the other warriors. Nantucket interlude Back on Nantucket, in the meantime, Chief Cofflin has become aware that a slightly deranged Pastor Deubel is persuading his congregation that Satan caused the event and is thereby trying to prevent the birth of Christ. Martha Stoddard, the librarian, is quietly letting Cofflin know the counter-arguments before they head for a barbecued fish lunch. A few days later Cofflin meets Martha in the Capuccino Cafe. Cofflin refuses a free meal from the owner, on the grounds that it is a bad example. A dishevelled man bursts in, reminding Cofflin to look at a proposal for setting up bathhouses. The man approaches his wife, from whom he has recently separated, and pulls a gun on her. Cofflin dives for the man, but is too late to prevent him shooting the woman. The man switches aim to Cofflin, but Martha has grabbed a slingshot from a young hunter, and firing at the man, distracts him long enough for Cofflin to catch him. In the ensuing struggle, the man is shot with his own gun. Cofflin notes the damage; two dead and one serious injury from a ricochet, and decides that while people are so close to breakdown he will store all guns and ammunition. Shortly after that, Pastor Deubel's congregation prepares to burn Nantucket to the ground in a psychotic attempt to prevent Satan from using the island. Cofflin, however, is prepared, has the street lights turned back on and quickly has most of the congregation arrested. He and his deputies round up some who have headed for Pastor Deubel's locked church, but an explosion tells him that others have set light to the warehouse storing the guns and ammunition. The deputies break into the church, only to find that Pastor Deubel has hanged himself, but badly. Father Gomez appears and volunteers to talk to those arrested, recommending to Cofflin that he does not put them on trial for a week or two, to allow feelings to die down. Southampton Water .